SAVANNAH — Both Statesboro track and field teams finished second at Saturday’s Jon Young Invitational against 15 other schools.
Gwen Jones finished first in the shot put with a throw of 42 feet, 6 inches.
Raven Thomas won the long jump with a leao of 17 feet, 31⁄2 inches setting a new school record.
Mario Jackson won the long jump with a 22-6.
Justin Jordan won the 800-meters with a time of 2:04.
Patrick Jenkins won the 200m in 22.08 seconds.
The 1600-meter relay team of Jarie Wharton, Joseph Mainer, Jackson and Jenkins ran a 3:29 to finish in first.
Both Statesboro squads will be in action next Saturday at the Plankenhorn Invitational at Southeast Bulloch.
Charleston sweeps GSU softball
Georgia Southern left a combined 25 runners on base as the College of Charleston swept the Eagles in Southern Conference softball action Saturday at Eagle Field.
The Cougars took the first game 3-2 in 10 innings and the second 6-3 to improve to 19-22 overall and 5-0 in the SoCon. The Eagles fall to 20-21 and 2-3.
The opener was a game of missed opportunities for Georgia Southern who had 13 hits but could not take advantage of four Charleston errors.
The Eagles took a 2-0 lead in the third on a two-run homer by sophomore Jenny Side (Loganville, Ga.) but the Cougars answered with two in their next at bat.
The two teams were scoreless until the 10th when pinch-runner Samantha Kubinski scored on a wild pitch. GSU put runners on second and third with one out but a pop-up and fly out ended the game.
Terri Mesko (8-11) earned the win for CofC while senior Melissa Laliberte (Cobourg, Ontario, Canada) went the distance for GSU and took the loss (8-7).
Sophomore Lindsey Hopkins (McDonough, Ga.) tallied three hits for the Eagles and three other players had two hits apiece.
The Eagles scored the first run of the contest in game two but the Cougars scored four unanswered and never trailed again. Katie Nutaitis came through with a two-run single in the third inning.
GSU went down in order just twice all afternoon, both in the second game, and left the bases loaded twice.
Sophomore Kristan Glover (Evans, Ga.) started for the Eagles and took the loss (2-6), allowing four runs and four hits in two innings. CofC’s Shannon Howard (10-9) gave up 10 hits but only three runs for the complete-game victory.
The three-game series concludes on Sunday with a game at 1 p.m.
Davidson 6, GSU women’s tennis 1
The Georgia Southern women’s tennis team dropped a hard fought match on Saturday afternoon, falling by a final of 6-1 to Davidson at the Hanner Tennis Complex in Statesboro.
Concerned about the possibilities of poor weather, both teams decided that it would be in their best interest to open the match with singles competition.
In singles play, GSU (8-8, 2-4 SoCon) dropped five of six matches.
Freshman Ali Beavers (Kingsport, Tenn.) was victorious at the No. 3 position downing Kim Whelan 6-4, 6-0. The victory was Beavers’ 12th of the season. She remains first in the Southern Conference in wins from the No. 3 seed. Georgia Southern returns to the hard-courts on Saturday, April 5, when they travel to compete against Elon.
Winona State 87, Augusta State 76
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Jonte Flowers scored 30 points as Winona State erased a 16-point deficit to win its second NCAA Division II championship in three years with an 87-76 win over Augusta State on Saturday.
Flowers, who scored 25 points in the second half, was named tournament most valuable player.
John Smith scored 18 points for Winona State (38-1), while Travis Whipple had 10 and Quincy Henderson scored 10 points with 10 rebounds.
A.J. Bowman scored 26 points to lead Augusta State (27-7), which was playing in the title game for the first time. He made 12 of 15 shots, an 80 percent rate that set a record for the championship game.
Garret Siler and Ben Madgen scored 20 points each for the Jaguars.
Augusta State led 53-37 with 17:25 left in the game.
Winona State’s defensive pressure sparked a rally that brought the Warriors back. Flowers’ basket tied the game at 58 with 10 minutes left.
After Siler’s basket and foul shot gave Augusta State a 61-58 lead, Flowers tied the game with a 3-pointer, before Siler scored again.
Smith followed with a free throw, then a 3-point shot to give Winona State a 65-63 lead, its first lead of the second half.
Bowman scored 20 points on 9-for-11 shooting in the first half, when Augusta State opened a 44-32 halftime lead.
Winona State set the NCAA Division II record for victories in a season, breaking the record of 36 by Regis (Colo.) College, which had stood since 1949.
Ben Fischer scored consecutive baskets that gave Winona State, which trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half, a 69-65 lead with less than six minutes left.
Fischer scored eight points. The Warriors, who outscored Augusta State 55-32 in the second half, led from that point thereafter.
When Flowers hit consecutive 3-point baskets, Winona State’s lead was 75-68 with 3:50 left.
1-year-old South Coast League shuts down
ALBANY, Ga. — The 1-year-old South Coast League, an independent circuit with teams in Georgia, South Carolina and Florida, suspended operations for this season.
The league cited unrest throughout its organization and weakness in the economy, which left no hope of having its finances in order for the scheduled opening day of May 15. The SCL held out hope of returning next year.
‘‘Now, an evaluation process begins on where we go from here and who the owners want to keep on to help rebuild the league for 2009,’’ spokesman J.D. Hardin said Friday. ‘‘And that’s something I want to make clear to everyone: We may have suspended our operations, but we have not folded, and we plan to return next year.’’
The league suspended operations three days after the resignation of CEO and co-founder Jamie Toole. Hardin said the league’s debt was ‘‘quite considerable.’’
In its inaugural season, the SCL was best known for giving a second chance to manager Wally Backman, who was hired by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2004 and fired less than a week later after reports surfaced of his off-the-field issues: an arrest for drunken driving and another for assault, along with financial problems.
Backman spent two years out of the game before he was hired to manage the South Georgia Peanuts. He led the team to a championship during a tumultuous season in which he was suspended three times and even quit for a few days before returning to finish out the season.
The league had six teams in 2007, but the Bradenton (Fla.) Juice played most of the season on the road because of attendance woes and weren’t coming back. Another Florida team, the Charlotte County Redfish, suspended operations for 2008 because its stadium was being renovated to become Tampa Bay’s new spring training home.
Last month, the SCL announced it would have only four teams this season: two in Georgia (the Albany-based Peanuts and Macon Music) and two in South Carolina (Anderson Joes and Aiken Foxhounds). It announced an expansion franchise for Jackson, Miss., in 2009 and expressed hope that Charlotte County would return to play.
The SCL’s master plan called for an expansion into the Atlanta metro area, but that seemed unlikely after the Braves announced plans to move their Triple-A team from Richmond, Va., to suburban Gwinnett County.
The suspension was another blow for Albany, which has gone through four minor league teams since 1992.
‘‘Well, we were hoping for the best, but I can’t say I’m surprised,’’ city manager Alfred Lott said. ‘‘We believe this is a baseball town and we believe baseball is good for this city, so the news is disappointing. We hope they recover.’’
If you have a score to report, please call the Herald Sports Desk at (912) 489-9408.
Gwen Jones finished first in the shot put with a throw of 42 feet, 6 inches.
Raven Thomas won the long jump with a leao of 17 feet, 31⁄2 inches setting a new school record.
Mario Jackson won the long jump with a 22-6.
Justin Jordan won the 800-meters with a time of 2:04.
Patrick Jenkins won the 200m in 22.08 seconds.
The 1600-meter relay team of Jarie Wharton, Joseph Mainer, Jackson and Jenkins ran a 3:29 to finish in first.
Both Statesboro squads will be in action next Saturday at the Plankenhorn Invitational at Southeast Bulloch.
Charleston sweeps GSU softball
Georgia Southern left a combined 25 runners on base as the College of Charleston swept the Eagles in Southern Conference softball action Saturday at Eagle Field.
The Cougars took the first game 3-2 in 10 innings and the second 6-3 to improve to 19-22 overall and 5-0 in the SoCon. The Eagles fall to 20-21 and 2-3.
The opener was a game of missed opportunities for Georgia Southern who had 13 hits but could not take advantage of four Charleston errors.
The Eagles took a 2-0 lead in the third on a two-run homer by sophomore Jenny Side (Loganville, Ga.) but the Cougars answered with two in their next at bat.
The two teams were scoreless until the 10th when pinch-runner Samantha Kubinski scored on a wild pitch. GSU put runners on second and third with one out but a pop-up and fly out ended the game.
Terri Mesko (8-11) earned the win for CofC while senior Melissa Laliberte (Cobourg, Ontario, Canada) went the distance for GSU and took the loss (8-7).
Sophomore Lindsey Hopkins (McDonough, Ga.) tallied three hits for the Eagles and three other players had two hits apiece.
The Eagles scored the first run of the contest in game two but the Cougars scored four unanswered and never trailed again. Katie Nutaitis came through with a two-run single in the third inning.
GSU went down in order just twice all afternoon, both in the second game, and left the bases loaded twice.
Sophomore Kristan Glover (Evans, Ga.) started for the Eagles and took the loss (2-6), allowing four runs and four hits in two innings. CofC’s Shannon Howard (10-9) gave up 10 hits but only three runs for the complete-game victory.
The three-game series concludes on Sunday with a game at 1 p.m.
Davidson 6, GSU women’s tennis 1
The Georgia Southern women’s tennis team dropped a hard fought match on Saturday afternoon, falling by a final of 6-1 to Davidson at the Hanner Tennis Complex in Statesboro.
Concerned about the possibilities of poor weather, both teams decided that it would be in their best interest to open the match with singles competition.
In singles play, GSU (8-8, 2-4 SoCon) dropped five of six matches.
Freshman Ali Beavers (Kingsport, Tenn.) was victorious at the No. 3 position downing Kim Whelan 6-4, 6-0. The victory was Beavers’ 12th of the season. She remains first in the Southern Conference in wins from the No. 3 seed. Georgia Southern returns to the hard-courts on Saturday, April 5, when they travel to compete against Elon.
Winona State 87, Augusta State 76
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Jonte Flowers scored 30 points as Winona State erased a 16-point deficit to win its second NCAA Division II championship in three years with an 87-76 win over Augusta State on Saturday.
Flowers, who scored 25 points in the second half, was named tournament most valuable player.
John Smith scored 18 points for Winona State (38-1), while Travis Whipple had 10 and Quincy Henderson scored 10 points with 10 rebounds.
A.J. Bowman scored 26 points to lead Augusta State (27-7), which was playing in the title game for the first time. He made 12 of 15 shots, an 80 percent rate that set a record for the championship game.
Garret Siler and Ben Madgen scored 20 points each for the Jaguars.
Augusta State led 53-37 with 17:25 left in the game.
Winona State’s defensive pressure sparked a rally that brought the Warriors back. Flowers’ basket tied the game at 58 with 10 minutes left.
After Siler’s basket and foul shot gave Augusta State a 61-58 lead, Flowers tied the game with a 3-pointer, before Siler scored again.
Smith followed with a free throw, then a 3-point shot to give Winona State a 65-63 lead, its first lead of the second half.
Bowman scored 20 points on 9-for-11 shooting in the first half, when Augusta State opened a 44-32 halftime lead.
Winona State set the NCAA Division II record for victories in a season, breaking the record of 36 by Regis (Colo.) College, which had stood since 1949.
Ben Fischer scored consecutive baskets that gave Winona State, which trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half, a 69-65 lead with less than six minutes left.
Fischer scored eight points. The Warriors, who outscored Augusta State 55-32 in the second half, led from that point thereafter.
When Flowers hit consecutive 3-point baskets, Winona State’s lead was 75-68 with 3:50 left.
1-year-old South Coast League shuts down
ALBANY, Ga. — The 1-year-old South Coast League, an independent circuit with teams in Georgia, South Carolina and Florida, suspended operations for this season.
The league cited unrest throughout its organization and weakness in the economy, which left no hope of having its finances in order for the scheduled opening day of May 15. The SCL held out hope of returning next year.
‘‘Now, an evaluation process begins on where we go from here and who the owners want to keep on to help rebuild the league for 2009,’’ spokesman J.D. Hardin said Friday. ‘‘And that’s something I want to make clear to everyone: We may have suspended our operations, but we have not folded, and we plan to return next year.’’
The league suspended operations three days after the resignation of CEO and co-founder Jamie Toole. Hardin said the league’s debt was ‘‘quite considerable.’’
In its inaugural season, the SCL was best known for giving a second chance to manager Wally Backman, who was hired by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2004 and fired less than a week later after reports surfaced of his off-the-field issues: an arrest for drunken driving and another for assault, along with financial problems.
Backman spent two years out of the game before he was hired to manage the South Georgia Peanuts. He led the team to a championship during a tumultuous season in which he was suspended three times and even quit for a few days before returning to finish out the season.
The league had six teams in 2007, but the Bradenton (Fla.) Juice played most of the season on the road because of attendance woes and weren’t coming back. Another Florida team, the Charlotte County Redfish, suspended operations for 2008 because its stadium was being renovated to become Tampa Bay’s new spring training home.
Last month, the SCL announced it would have only four teams this season: two in Georgia (the Albany-based Peanuts and Macon Music) and two in South Carolina (Anderson Joes and Aiken Foxhounds). It announced an expansion franchise for Jackson, Miss., in 2009 and expressed hope that Charlotte County would return to play.
The SCL’s master plan called for an expansion into the Atlanta metro area, but that seemed unlikely after the Braves announced plans to move their Triple-A team from Richmond, Va., to suburban Gwinnett County.
The suspension was another blow for Albany, which has gone through four minor league teams since 1992.
‘‘Well, we were hoping for the best, but I can’t say I’m surprised,’’ city manager Alfred Lott said. ‘‘We believe this is a baseball town and we believe baseball is good for this city, so the news is disappointing. We hope they recover.’’
If you have a score to report, please call the Herald Sports Desk at (912) 489-9408.
